Systems and methods for third party payment at point of sale terminals

ABSTRACT

A point of sale terminal of a merchant includes a third party payment provider display area for payment using a third party payment provider. The point of sale terminal receives an authentication notification for a consumer from the third party payment provider. The consumer is authenticated using one or more of a personal identification number, an image of the consumer, a quick response code scanned from a mobile device of the consumer, or a code received via near field communications with the mobile device of the consumer. The point of sale terminal requests payment from the third party payment provider for a transaction with the consumer using the transaction amount and authentication information. The third party provider display area allows new payment modalities to be used at the point of sale terminal without requiring modification of the instructions for the point of sale terminal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject application teaches example embodiments that relategenerally lo providing third party payment capabilities at point of saleterminals.

BACKGROUND

Point Of Sale (“POS”) terminals are used by merchants to accept consumerpayments for goods or services. Existing POS terminals typically acceptpayments from consumers in the form of cash, check, or credit cardtransactions. POS terminals can also be configured to allow the use ofcoupons, vouchers, frequent user programs, gratuities, and so forth.However, POS terminals generally have to be updated via software orfirmware in order to accept a new form of payment, which can bedifficult and costly to implement thereby slowing the deployment of newpayment modalities and new payment options for consumers.

SUMMARY

In an example embodiment, a point of sale terminal of a merchantincludes an embedded controller having a processor, a memory in datacommunication with the processor for storing data and instructions, anetwork interface for data communications with a payment processingnetwork, and a display that is configured to display a third partypayment provider display area. The embedded controller receives anauthentication notification from the third party payment provider viathe network interface for authenticating a transaction with themerchant. The authentication notification can include identifyingindicia of the consumer and can include a gratuity. The embeddedcontroller receives a consumer authentication selection, sends a paymentrequest that includes the consumer authentication selection to the thirdparty payment provider, via the network interface, for the transactionwith the consumer, and receives a payment confirmation from the thirdparty payment provider. In an embodiment, the consumer authenticationselection authenticates the consumer using the identifying indicia ofthe consumer. In an embodiment, the identifying indicia can be an imageof the consumer, the image can be displayed in the third party paymentprovider display area, and the consumer is authenticated by a selectionof the image of the consumer that is displayed. In an embodiment, theconsumer authentication selection can be a personal identificationnumber of the consumer or a code from the consumer's mobile device. Inan embodiment the code can be a scanned quick response or QR code, or anear field communication code received from the mobile device. In anembodiment, the third party payment provider display area can beconfigured to support new payment modalities through data received overa network interface, where the data docs not modify the instructions ofthe point of sale terminal in the memory.

In an example embodiment, a method includes presenting a third partypayment provider display area on a point of sale terminal associatedwith a merchant, receiving a consumer authentication selection, sendinga payment request to the third party payment provider for a transactionwith the consumer at the point of sale terminal, and receiving apayment, by the merchant and from the third party payment provider, inresponse to the payment request. The method can further includereceiving data for presenting a new payment modality in the third partypayment provider display area, where the data does not modify aninstruction of the point of sale terminal. Receiving a consumerauthentication selection can include receiving one or more personalidentification numbers from the consumer or a code from the consumersmobile device. The code can be a scanned quick response, or QR code fromthe display of the mobile device or a near field communication codereceived from the mobile device. The method can include receiving anotification at the point of sale terminal that the consumer haschecked-in at the merchant with a third party payment provider. Thenotification can include identifying indicia of the consumer and/or agratuity provided by the consumer when the consumer checked-in. Theconsumer authentication selection authenticates the consumer using theidentifying indicia of the consumer. The identifying indicia of theconsumer can be an image of the consumer, the image can be displayed inthe third party payment provider display area on the point of saleterminal, and the consumer can be authenticated by a selection of theimage of the consumer that is displayed in the third party paymentprovider display area. The third party payment provider display area onthe point of sale terminal can be a web page that is configured toreceive a payment amount of the transaction from the point of saleterminal, receive the consumer authentication selection, send thepayment request for payment by the third party payment providerincluding the payment amount and the consumer authentication selection,received a confirmation of payment by the third party payment provider,and send a notification to the point of sale terminal of theconfirmation of payment.

In an example embodiment, a computer-implemented payment processingmethod includes polling a third party payment processor for customercheek-in data that is generated as a result of a customer check-in at amerchant, receiving the customer check-in data which includesauthentication data for authenticating the customer at a point of saleterminal of the merchant, and sending the check-in data to the point ofsale terminal of the merchant. The method includes receiving a paymentrequest for payment by the third party payment processor, where thepayment request includes result data from an authentication of thecustomer at the point of sale terminal of the merchant. The methodincludes sending a payment authorization request to the third partypayment processor, receiving a payment confirmation from the third partypayment processor, and sending a notification of payment to the point ofsale terminal. The authentication data can include one or more digitalimages of the customer. The authentication result data can include aconfirmation that the customer was authenticated with the digital imageof the customer. The authentication result data can include a personalidentification number or pin, a hash of a pin, a password, a hash of apassword, a token associated with the merchant and the customer, ascanned code, a scanned QR code, a code provided by a mobilecommunication device, and. a code provided in an near fieldcommunication session with a mobile communication device. The receivedcustomer check-in data can include gratuity data, and payment requestfrom the point of sale terminal can include a gratuity based at least inpan on the gratuity data. In an embodiment, the computer-implementedpayment processing method can include sending data to the point of saleterminal for presenting a new payment modality in a third party paymentprovider display area, where the data does not modify an instruction ofthe point of sale terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

It is believed that certain embodiments will be better understood fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example point of sale terminal and anassociated payment processing network.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example of components of a third partypayment capability on a point of sale terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example display element for a thirdparty payment provider on a point of sale terminal.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example process for payments via a thirdparty payment provider on a point of sale terminal.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computing device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, and use of systems, apparatuses, devices, andmethods disclosed herein related to third party payment at point of saleterminals. One or more examples of these non-limiting embodiments areillustrated in the selected examples disclosed and described in detailwith reference made to FIGS. 1-5 in the accompanying drawings. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand that systems, apparatuses,devices, and methods specifically described herein and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings are non-limiting embodiments. The featuresillustrated or described in connection with one non-limiting embodimentmay be combined with the features of other non-limiting embodiments.Such modifications and variations are intended to be included within thescope of the present disclosure.

The systems, apparatuses, devices, and methods disclosed herein aredescribed in detail by way of examples and with reference to thefigures. The examples discussed herein are examples only and areprovided to assist in the explanation of the apparatuses, devices,systems and methods described herein. None of the feature or componentsshown in the drawings or discussed below should be taken as mandatoryfor any specific implementation of any of these apparatuses, devices,systems or methods unless specifically designated as mandatory. For caseof reading and clarity, certain components, modules, or methods may bedescribed solely in connection with a specific figure. In thisdisclosure, any identification of specific techniques, arrangements,etc. are either related to a specific example presented or are merely ageneral description of such a technique, arrangement, etc.Identifications of specific details or examples are not intended to be,and should not be construed as mandatory or limiting unless specificallydesignated as such. Any failure to specifically describe a combinationor sub-combination of components should not be understood as anindication that any combination or sub-combination is not possible. Itwill be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art thatmodifications to disclosed and described examples, arrangements,configurations, components, elements, apparatuses, devices, systems,methods, etc. can be made and may be desired for a specific application.Also, for any methods described, regardless of whether the method isdescribed in conjunction with a flow diagram, it should be understoodthat unless otherwise specified or required by context, any explicit orimplicit ordering of steps performed in the execution of a method doesnot imply that those steps must be performed in the order presented butinstead may be performed in a different order or in parallel.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” “one embodiment,” “some example embodiments,” “one exampleembodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with any embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,”“some example embodiments,” “one example embodiment,” or “in anembodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

Throughout this disclosure, references to components or modulesgenerally refer to items that logically can be grouped together toperform a function or group of related functions. Like referencenumerals are generally intended to refer to the same or similarcomponents. Components and modules can be implemented in software,hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The term “software”is used expansively to include not only executable code, for examplemachine-executable or machine-interpretable instructions, but also datastructures, data stores and computing instructions stored in anysuitable electronic format, including firmware, and embedded software.It should be noted that although for clarity and to aid in understandingsome examples discussed herein might describe specific features orfunctions as part of a specific component or module, or as occurring ata specific layer of a computing device (for example, a hardware layer,operating system layer, or application layer), those features orfunctions may be implemented as part of a different component or moduleor operated at a different layer of a communication protocol stack.

Point Of Sale (“POS”) systems used by merchants generally acceptpayments from consumers in the form of cash, check, credit cards and soforth. POS systems can include one or more POS terminals and can includeback office computing systems. POS systems and POS terminals can bespecialized computing devices configured to send and receive financialtransaction data, for example between a POS system and a POS terminal,or with a payment network provider such as an acquirer processor.Acquirer processors similarly can use specialized computing devicesconfigured to send, receive, and process financial transaction data.

Turning to FIG. 1, a consumer 102, during the checkout process at amerchant's store, pays for goods or services from a merchant 110 at aPOS terminal 112. If the consumer 102 pays by credit card, thetransaction is processed through a payment network 100. Because amerchant 110 generally uses a different bank or financial institution140 than the consumer 102, an acquirer processor 130 handles thefinancial transactions accessary to transfer payment between thefinancial institutions 140 of the consumer 102 and the merchant 110. Themerchant 110 swipes the consumer's payment card at the POS terminal 112.For simplicity, a “payment card” or “payment vehicle” generally refersto any type of financial alternative to currency, such as credit cards,debit cards, smart cards, single-use cards, pre-paid cards, and thelike. The POS terminal 112 sends a payment request across a network 120to the acquirer processor 130. The acquirer processor 130 requests anelectronic transfer of funds from the financial institution 140associated with the payment vehicle of the consumer 102, and settles thereceived funds to the financial institution 140 associated with themerchant 110.

New payment modalities for purchasing goods and services enableconsumers 102 to pay using forms of payment other than cash, check, orpayment card. For example, online vendors accept payments via thirdparty payment providers, that can be termed third party paymentprocessors. Example third party payment providers include, but are notlimited to ApplePay™, Android Pay™, PayPal™, and Samsung Pay™ amongother suitable third party payment providers. Consumers 102 can pay forgoods and services using their mobile computing device, such as aniPhone™ from Apple™, or an Android™ based smartphone. These new paymenttypes can be beneficial to consumers 102 and merchants 110 alike.Consumers 102 can benefit from the convenience of using mobile paymentsystems. Merchants 110 can benefit from more economical transactioncosts offered by third party payment providers. Many third party paymentproviders use digital wallets. Digital wallets provide flexibility toconsumers 102, allowing consumer 102 to choose their preferred form ofpayment from one or more accounts configured in their digital wallet.For example, for any transaction, consumers 102 can choose whether topay from a payment card, bank account, or line of credit in theirdigital wallet. Digital wallets also provide security to consumers 102because the consumers' payment card and bank account numbers are notprovided to a merchant 110 during checkout.

While POS terminals 112 at a merchant 110 can be configured to acceptpayments from third party payment providers, each new form of payment orthird party payment provider, each POS terminal 112 at the merchant 110would need to be undated, for example through a software or firmwareupdate. Such perpetual updating and reconfiguring of POS terminals 112can be difficult, expensive, and time consuming as each new paymentoption become available or changes over time.

Turning to FIG. 2, an embodiment of an example system and method forfacilitating deployment of third party payment capabilities to POSterminals 212 is illustrated. A consumer 202 desires to pay for goods orservices from a merchant 210 using payment other than cash, check, or aphysical payment card, which is illustrated as third party paymentprovider 220. The consumer 202 checks-in at the merchant 210 with thethird party payment provider 220, for example by checking-in with thethird party payment provider 220 over the Internet 204 using a mobilephone. A consumer 202 can check-in numerous different ways. In a firstconfiguration, the consumer 202 can use u mobile computing device, suchas a mobile phone, to provide identifying information about the merchant210 to the third party payment provider 220. The identifying informationcan be any suitable information. For example, if the consumer 202 is ata store associated with the merchant 210, the consumer 202 can providethe name of the merchant 210 or the location of the store to the thirdparty payment provider 220. In another configuration, the mobilecomputing device can provide the location of the store to the thirdparty payment provider 220 using global positioning system information,network triangulation computations, WiFi network identification, orother suitable position information. The third party payment provider220 can determine the appropriate merchant 210 and store from theposition information provided by the mobile computing device. In stillother configurations, the mobile computing device can provideidentification of the merchant 210 from a scanned code, such at a QRcode or bar code scanned by the mobile computing device at the store, orfrom a suitable code provided by the merchant 210 to the mobilecomputing device through near field communications. For example, aconsumer 202 can place their mobile computing device near a sensor orbeacon at the store that is configured for near field communications.Other suitable methods of determining the store, location, and/ormerchant 210 can also be utilized.

When the consumer 202 checks-in, the consumer 202 can provide additionalinformation to the third party payment provider 220. For example, theconsumer 202 can provide gratuity information such as a percentage tipor a fixed tip. For example, if the consumer 202 is at a restaurant orsimilar venue, the consumer 202 can check-in after receiving the bill,allowing the consumer 202 to sec the amount due to the merchant 210before the consumer 202 adds a gratuity. In a configuration, the billcan include a QR code or other identifying information to facilitate thecheck-in process at the merchant 210 with the third party paymentprovider 220. During check-in, the consumer 202 can configure theirdigital wallet to use the desired bank account, payment card, or line ofcredit to be used in processing the transaction at the merchant 210.

Once a consumer 202 has checked-in, identifying indicia of the consumer202 can be provided to the point of sale terminal 212 of the merchant210, for example via an authentication notification which can be amessage sent to the point of sale terminal 212. In a configuration, thethird party payment provider 220 can be periodically polled by an entityin the payment network 200, for example an acquirer processor (notshown) associated with the merchant 210 and one or more point of saleterminals 212, that receives the identifying indicia for newlychecked-in consumers 202 in response to the poll. In otherconfigurations, the third party payment provider 220 can send theidentifying indicia of the consumer 202 to the acquirer processor,payment network 200, merchant 210, or point of sale terminal 212 whenthe consumer 202 checks-in. The point of sale terminal 212 can receiveall or some of the identifying indicia. The identifying indicia caninclude one or more images of the consumer 202, for example one or moredigital pictures of consumer's face. The identifying indicia can alsoinclude other authentication information, for example a hash of apersonal identification number, a token for tokenization of transactionsas would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and soforth.

When the consumer checks-out, or pays for the goods or services, theidentifying indicia of the consumer 202 can be used to authenticate theconsumer 202. In one configuration, the point of sale terminal 212 caninclude a near field communication device 214. The near fieldcommunication device 214 can communicate wirelessly with the mobilecomputing device of the consumer 202, for example to obtain anauthorization code or identifying information of the consumer 202 or ofmobile device. In another configuration, the point of sale terminal 212can include a keypad 216. The consumer 202 can enter a personalidentification number on the keypad for paying using the third partypayment provider 220. Other numbers or alphanumeric characters, such astemporary passwords or authorization codes, are also contemplated aswould be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. In anotherconfiguration, the point of sale terminal 212 can include a scanner 218.The consumer 202 can display a code, such as a bar code or quickresponse (QR) code on the display of their mobile computing device toprovide identifying indicia of the consumer 202. The scanner 218 can bea handheld scanner, an embedded scanner such as is used to scan items atgrocery stores, a camera, and so forth as would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art.

Referring now also to FIG. 3, in another configuration the point of saleterminal 212 can include a third party payment provider display area222. The third party payment provider display area 222 can be displayedconcurrently with a portion of point of sale terminal display area 300.In various embodiments, the third party payment provider display area222 can be a window, a widget, or a pop-up, a web page, and so forth,and be rectangular or non-rectangular, and occupy one or multiplecontiguous or non-contiguous areas of the point of sale terminal displayarea 300.

The third party payment provider display area 222 can be instantiatedusing widgets from a widget hosting site or using a web servicesplatform among other possible options as would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art. Once the point of sale terminal 212 has beenupdated to support the third party payment provider display area 222,new payment modalities and new third party payment providers can beadded by changing the content that is displayed in the third partypayment provider display area 222 (for example, the web page, window,widget, or pop-up). The third party payment provider display area 222advantageously allows point of sale terminals 212 to display new thirdparty payment modalities based on content hosted on other systemsinstead of requiring an update to the code or instructions executing onthe point of sale terminal 212 itself. If desirable, the new paymentmodalities and support for other thud party payment providers also canbe added to the software or firmware of the point of sale terminal 212so that the point of sale terminal can natively support those newpayment modalities and third party payment providers. However, the thirdparty payment provider display area 222 facilitates rapid developmentand deployment of new payment modalities and support for additionalthird party payment providers without requiring updates to the softwareor firmware of each point of sale terminal 212.

In an embodiment, the third party payment provider display area 222 candisplay one or more identifying indicia that allow the merchant 210 toauthenticate the consumer 202. For example, the identifying indicia caninclude a picture of each consumer 302A, 302B, 302C, 302D that ischecked-in with the merchant 210 through the check-in process describedabove. The third party payment provider display area 222 can receive theidentifying indicia through a message, or an authenticationnotification, from the third party payment provider. The merchant 210can compare the consumer 202 with the picture of each consumer 302A,302B, 302C, 302D, and select the picture of the consumer 302C thatmatches the consumer 202. Other identifying indicia of the consumer 202can also be compared to authenticate the consumer's identity such as thename of the consumer 202, a driver's license number of the consumer 202,a payment card number, or a subset of digits, of a payment card in adigital wallet associated with the consumer 202, a security question ofpersonal information known to the consumer 202, and so forth.

The point of sale terminal 212 can generate a payment request forpayment by the third party payment provider 220. The payment request caninclude information such as information identifying the merchant to theacquirer processor or other party of the payment network 200, thepayment amount, which can include a gratuity, identifying indicia forthe consumer, authentication information such as whether the consumerwas authenticated by the merchant 210 using images of the consumer 202,and/or authentication information such as personal identification numberentered on the keypad 216 by the consumer, a code scanned by the scanner218, or information about the consumer 202 or mobile device received vianear field communication handshake, or any other suitable authenticationinformation.

The payment request can be packaged into a data structure and sent tothe acquirer processor or other transaction processing entity in thepayment network 200 for processing. Suitable data structures caninclude, but are not limited to, proprietary data structures, or datastructures defined in a suitable notation such as Abstract SyntaxNotation One (ASN.1) or Java Script Object Notation (JSON), or any othersuitable encoding formats or data structure as would be understood byone of ordinary skill in the art. In various embodiments, a mobilewallet service can be used or a third party payment provider's digitalwallet can be accessed. The consumer 202 can configure the digitalwallet to use the desired bank account, payment card, or line of creditto be used in processing the transaction. The acquirer processor canprocess the transaction with the third party payment provider 220, andthe point of sale terminal 212 can receive confirmation of a successfultransaction from the payment network 200. If not successful, the pointof sale terminal 212 can receive information indicating why payment wasnot able to be made through the third party payment provider 220.

In an embodiment, the system can be configured to accept third partypayment transactions from point of sale terminals 212 during arestricted set of hours, for example during the merchant's 210 storehours. In a configuration, the merchant 210 can determine the storehours, thereby allowing the merchant 210 to deviate from normal storehours during holidays, special events, emergencies, and other normalbusiness hours. In a configuration, when the merchant 210 is closed,consumers 202 are unable to check-in at the merchant 210.

In an embodiment, the system can be configured to accept third partypayment transactions from point of sale terminals 212 based at least inpart on geography. For example, the third party payment provider 220transactions can be configured to work when the consumer 202 making thepayment is determined to be within a specific geographic range ofpositions, such as within a particular store or set of stores of amerchant 210, or within a threshold geographic distance of a store orset of stores sometimes referred to as geo-fencing. Similarly, when aconsumer 202 moves away from the merchant 210 or store, the consumer canbe checked-out. Similarly, a consumer can be checked-out after apre-determined period of time has elapsed.

In an embodiment prior to allowing consumers 202 to check-in to themerchant 210, the merchant 210 and one or more stores associated withthe merchant 210 can lie “onboarded” onto the system. Onboarding caninclude entering any suitable identifying indicia about the merchant 210and stores, such as merchant or store name, account number with anacquirer processor, store addresses, phone numbers, store position orpositions such as GPS or global positioning system coordinates, the typeof business, store hours, type of transactions, transaction amountlimits, whether payment would include tipping, and so forth.

Referring now also to FIG. 4, an example flow diagram of an embodimentof a point of sale terminal configured to allow payments from thirdparty payment providers. Processing begins at start block 400 andcontinues to process block 402.

At process block 402, a merchant onboards with a third party paymentprovider, as described above. Processing continues to process block 404.

At process block 404, a customer optionally checks-in with the thirdparty payment provider to indicate that the customer intends to make apurchase from a merchant using the third party payment provider as thepayment source. Processing continues to process block 406.

At process block 406, an acquirer processor, or another suitable systemin the payment network, optionally polls the third party paymentprovider and determines that a customer has checked-in with the thirdparty payment provider. The acquirer processor receives check-ininformation that can include identifying indicia about the customer suchas the customer's name, a digital image of the customer forauthenticating the customer, the merchant, and so forth as describedabove. Processing continues to process block 408. In an alternativeembodiment, the point of sale system polls the third party paymentprovider and determines that a customer has checked-in with the thirdparty payment provider. The point of sale system can include one or morepoint of sale terminals. In this embodiment, the point of sale systemreceives the check-in information. The check-in information can bedistributed to one or more point of sale terminals. In a configuration,the point of sale terminal polls the third party payment provider andreceives the cheek-in information. In this embodiment, processing skipsprocess block 408 and continues to process block 410.

At process block 408, the acquirer processor optionally sends thecustomer check-in information to the merchant. The information can besent in a message, for example an authentication notification asdescribed above. Processing continues to process block 410.

At process block 410, the customer requests to pay the merchant usingthe third party payment provider, for example when checking-out at thepoint of sale terminal of the merchant. Processing continues to processblock 412.

At process block 412, the merchant selects the third party paymentprovider on the point of sale terminal, and the point of safe terminaldisplays a window, widget, pop-up or other suitable display area for thethird party payment provider on the display of the point of saleterminal. The display area for the third party payment provideroptionally can display images of customers that are checked-in with themerchant at the particular store, venue, or location. The display areaoptionally can also provide other identifying information aboutcustomers that are checked-in, such as the names or addresses of thecustomers. Processing continues to process block 414.

At process block 414, the merchant optionally can review the displayedimages of the customers, or other identifying information, and selectthe image on the display that matches the customer that is checking-outat the point of sale terminal. Additional, or other, authenticationinformation can be obtained by the point of sale terminal as describedabove. For example, the customer can enter a personal identificationnumber or password via a keypad or keyboard. The customer can display acode, such as a bar code or quick response code, on the screen of thecustomer's mobile computing device and have the point of sale terminalscan the code. The customer can place their mobile computing device neara near field communication sensor associated with the point of saleterminal in order to send a code that identifies the customer and mobilecomputing device. Processing continues to process block 416.

At process block 416, the point of sale terminal can send a paymentrequest to the acquirer processor. The payment request can include theauthentication result from the third party payment providerauthentication steps, for example an indication that the customer wasidentified by the customer image, and/or the other authenticationinformation provided by the customer via the keypad, or by thecustomer's mobile computing device via scanning or near fieldcommunication steps described in process block 414. Processing continuesto process block 418. In a first alternative embodiment, the point ofsale terminal sends the payment request, including the authenticationresult, to the third party payment provider. In a second alternativeembodiment, the customer can send a payment request directly to thethird party payment provider, for example from an app executing on thecustomer's mobile computing device. In these alternative embodiments,the point of sale terminal receives a payment confirmation (or anindication that the payment was declined) from the third party paymentprovider and processing terminates at end block 422.

At process block 418, the acquirer processor can process the paymentrequest with the third party payment provider. Processing continues toprocess block 420.

At process block 420, the acquirer processor can send a paymentconfirmation to the point of sale terminal to indicate that the paymentwas successful, or a suitable indication if the payment was declined bythe third party payment provider. Processing terminates at end block422.

In alternative embodiments, the point of sale terminal can be configuredto allow payments from third party payment providers using variousdifferent modalities. In a first alternative embodiment, the point ofsale terminal can be configured to allow a customer to log on to a thirdparty payment provider and make a payment to the merchant. For exampleThe third party payment provider area can display a browser window, or asimilar screen, that links to a third party payment provider in asimilar fashion to how a user's home computer or mobile computing devicewould display a browser window for making a payment to another partyusing a third party payment provider. In a configuration, informationabout one or both parties can be prepopulated in the third party paymentprovider display area, for example a merchant identifier can beprepopulated in the payment request.

In a second alternative embodiment, the customer can perform thecheck-in at the point of sale terminal in the third party paymentprovider display area. In a configuration, the customer check-in can beperformed at a kiosk or another terminal of the merchant.

In a third alternative embodiment, the third party payment providerdisplay area can provide a user interface for the customer to select athird party payment provider, for example from a list of third partypayment providers. The customer can then perform actions with the thirdparty payment provider to make a payment to the merchant as describedabove in any of the examples.

In a fourth alternative embodiment, the point of sale terminal caninteract with the user's mobile computing device, for example byscanning a code on the screen of the screen of the mobile computingdevice or by transmitting or receiving information using near fieldcommunication capabilities of the mobile computing device, or any othercomputing device that may be tethered or in communication with thecustomer's mobile computing device.

Generally, the third party payment provider display area and the pointof sale terminal can be configured to support any number of suitablepayment modalities as would be understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art. Advantageously, a point of sale terminal that supports thethird party payment provider display area can support new or improvedpayment modalities with requiring an update to the code, orinstructions, for executing the point of sale terminal itself. Instead,data for the new or updated payment modality can be uploaded to a dataserver, and the third party payment provider display area can downloadthe data and present the new or updated payment modality lo thecustomer. For example, if the third party payment provider display areadisplays a browser window, the instructions for that browser window onthe point of sale terminal do not have to updated to support a newpayment modality; instead, data stored on a separate data server can bedownloaded and used by the browser window to present the new paymentmodality to the customer. This can facilitate rapid deployment ofnew-payment modalities to point of sale terminals without modifyinginstructions of the point of sale terminal itself.

The systems and processes described above can be performed on or betweenone or more computing devices 500. Referring now to FIG. 5, an examplecomputing device 500 is presented. A computing device 500 can be aserver, a computing device that is integrated with other systems orsubsystems, a mobile computing device such as a smart phone, acloud-based computing capability, and so forth. The computing device 500can be any suitable computing device as would be understood in the art,including without limitation, a custom chip, an embedded processingdevice, a tablet computing device, a point of sale terminal 212associated with a merchant 210, a back office system of a merchant 210,a personal data assistant (PDA), a desktop, a laptop, a microcomputer, aminicomputer, a server, a mainframe, or any other suitable programmabledevice. In various embodiments disclosed herein, a single component canbe replaced by multiple component and multiple components can bereplaced by a single component to perform a given function or functions.Except where such substitution would not be operative, such substitutionis within the intended scope of the embodiments.

The computing device 500 includes a processor 502 that can be anysuitable type of processing unit, for example a general purpose centralprocessing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computer (RISC), aprocessor that has a pipeline or multiple processing capabilityincluding having multiple cores, a complex instruction set computer(CISC), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specificintegrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable logic devices (PLD), and afield programmable gate array (FPGA), among others. The computingresources can also include distributed computing devices, cloudcomputing resources, and virtual computing resources in general.

The computing device 500 also includes one or more memories 506, forexample read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memoryassociated with the processor 502, or other memories such as dynamic RAM(DRAM), static ram (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyerasable PROM (EEPROM), flash memory, a removable memory card or disk, asolid state drive, and so forth. The computing device 500 also includesstorage media such as a storage device that can be configured to havemultiple modules, such as magnetic disk drives, floppy drives, tapedrives, hard drives, optical drives and media, magneto-optical drivesand media, compact disk drives, Compact Disk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM),Compact Disk Recordable (CD-R), Compact Disk Rewriteable (CD-RW), asuitable type of Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) or BluRay disk, and soforth. Storage media such as flash drives, solid state hard drives,redundant array of individual disks (RAID), virtual drives, networkeddrives and other memory means including storage media on the processor502, or memories 506 are also contemplated as storage devices. It can beappreciated that such memory can be internal or external with respect tooperation of the disclosed embodiments. It can be appreciated thatcertain portions of the processes described herein can be performedusing instructions stored on a computer-readable medium or media thatdirect a computer system to perform the process steps. Non-transitorycomputer-readable media, as used herein, comprises all computer-readablemedia except for transitory, propagating signals.

Network and communication interfaces 508 can be configured to transmitto, or receive data from, other computing devices 500 across a network512. The network and communication interfaces 508 can be an Ethernetinterface, a radio interface, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, orany other suitable communications interface and can include receivers,transmitter, and transceivers. For purposes of clarity, a transceivercan be referred to as a receiver or a transmitter when referring to onlythe input or only the output functionality of the transceiver. Examplecommunication interfaces 508 can include wired data transmission linkssuch as Ethernet and TCP/IP. The communication interfaces 508 caninclude wireless protocols for interfacing with private or publicnetworks 512. For example, the network and communication interfaces 508and protocols can include interfaces for communicating with privatewireless networks such as a WiFi network, one of the IEEE 802.11x familyof networks, or another suitable wireless network. The network andcommunication interfaces 508 can include interfaces and protocols forcommunicating with public wireless networks 508, using for examplewireless protocols used by cellular network providers, including CodeDivision Multiple Access (CDMA) and Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM). A computing device 400 can use network andcommunication interfaces 508 to communicate with hardware modules suchas a database or data store, or one or more servers or other networkedcomputing resources. Data can be encrypted or protected fromunauthorized access.

In various configurations, the computing device 500 can include a systembus 510 for interconnecting the various components of the computingdevice 500, or the computing device 500 can be integrated into one ormore chips such as programmable logic device or application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC). The system bus 510 can include a memorycontroller, a local bus. or a peripheral bus tor supporting input andoutput devices 504, and communication interfaces 508. Example input andoutput device 504 include keyboards, keypads, gesture or graphical inputdevices, motion input devices, touchscreen interfaces, one or moredisplays, audio units, voice recognition units, vibratory devices,computer mice, and any other suitable user interface.

The processor 502 and memory 506 can include nonvolatile memory forstoring computer-readable instructions, data, data structures, programmodules, code, microcode, and other software components for storing thecomputer-readable instructions in non-transitory computer-readablemediums in connection with the other hardware components for carryingout the methodologies described herein. Software components can includesource code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, staticcode, dynamic code, encrypted code, or any other suitable type of codeor computer instructions implemented using any suitable high-level,low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled, or interpreted programminglanguage.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments havebeen presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit thescope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described hereinmay be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, variousomissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the spirit of theinventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intendedto cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the spirit andscope of the inventions.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A point of sale terminal of a merchant, comprising:an embedded controller including a processor, a memory operable forstorage of instructions for sending a payment request for payment to apayment processing network according to a first payment modality, anetwork interface, and a display configured to display a third partypayment provider display area, wherein the embedded controller isconfigured to: receive, from a server of a third party payment provider,via the network interface, content to be displayed in the third partypayment provider display area, the content including an interface forsubmitting a payment request to the third party payment provideraccording to a second payment modality different from the first paymentmodality and not supported by the instructions; display the content inthe third party payment provider display area; and send, via the networkinterface, a payment request for payment by the third party paymentprovider for a transaction with a consumer at the point of sale terminalaccording to the second payment modality.
 22. The point of sale terminalof claim 21, wherein the consumer authentication selection authenticatesthe consumer using the identifying indicia of the consumer.
 23. Thepoint of sale terminal of claim 22, wherein the identifying indicia ofthe consumer is an image of the consumer, wherein the image of theconsumer is displayed in the third party payment provider display area,and wherein the consumer is authenticated by a selection of the image ofthe consumer that is displayed in the third party payment providerdisplay area.
 24. The point of sale terminal of claim 22, wherein theconsumer authentication selection includes one or more of a personalidentification number from the consumer or a code from a mobile deviceof the consumer.
 25. The point of sale terminal of claim 24, wherein thecode is selected from group consisting of a scanned quick response codefrom a display of the mobile device, and a near field communication codereceived from the mobile device.
 26. A method, comprising: presenting athird party payment provider display area on a point of sale terminal ofa merchant, the point of sale terminal being configured to send apayment request for payment to a payment processing network according toa first payment modality including cash, a check, or a payment card;receiving from a server of a third party payment provider, via thenetwork interface, content to be displayed in a third party paymentprovider display area of the point of sale terminal, the contentincluding an interface for submitting a payment request to the thirdparty payment provider according to a second payment modality differentfrom the first payment modality and for which the point of sale terminalis not configured; displaying the content in the third party paymentprovider display area; and sending a payment request for payment by thethird party payment provider according to the second payment modalityfrom the point of sale terminal for a transaction with a consumer at thepoint of sale terminal.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein receiving aconsumer authentication selection includes receiving one or more of apersonal identification number from the consumer or a code from a mobiledevice of the consumer.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the code isselected from group consisting of a scanned quick response code from adisplay of the mobile device, and a near field communication codereceived from the mobile device.
 29. The method of claim 26, furthercomprising: receiving a notification, at the point of sale terminal,that the consumer has checked-in at the merchant with the third partypayment provider, wherein the notification includes one or more of anidentifying indicia of the consumer, and a gratuity provided by theconsumer when the consumer checked-in.
 30. The method of claim 29,wherein the consumer authentication selection authenticates the consumerusing the identifying indicia of the consumer.
 31. The method of claim29, wherein the identifying indicia of the consumer is an image of theconsumer, wherein the image of the consumer is displayed in the thirdparty payment provider display area on the point of sale terminal, andwherein the consumer is authenticated by a selection of the image of theconsumer that is displayed in the third party payment provider displayarea.
 32. The method of claim 26, wherein the third party paymentprovider display area on the point of sale terminal is a web pageconfigured to: receive a payment amount of the transaction from thepoint of sale terminal; receive the consumer authentication selection;send the payment request for payment by the third party payment providerthat includes the payment amount and the consumer authenticationselection; receive a confirmation of payment by the third party paymentprovider; and send a notification to the point of sale terminal of theconfirmation of payment.
 33. A computer-implemented payment processingmethod, comprising: receiving authentication data for authenticating acustomer at a point of sale terminal of the merchant, the point of saleterminal being configured to send a payment request for payment to apayment processing network according to a first payment modalityincluding cash, a check, or a payment card; sending, from a server of athird party payment provider to the point of sale terminal, data forpresenting a second payment modality, different from the first paymentmodality and for which the point of sale terminal is not configured, ina third party payment provider display area of the point of saleterminal; receiving a payment request from the point of sale terminalfor payment by the third party payment processor according to the secondpayment modality; sending a payment authorization request to the thirdparty payment processor.
 34. The computer-implemented payment processingmethod of claim 33, wherein the authentication data includes at leastone digital image of the customer.
 35. The computer-implemented paymentprocessing method of claim 34, wherein the authentication result dataincludes a confirmation that the customer was authenticated with thedigital image of the customer.
 36. The computer-implemented paymentprocessing method of claim 33, wherein the authentication result dataincludes a data selected from the group consisting of a personalidentification number, a hash of a personal identification number, apassword, a hash of a password, a token associated with the customer andmerchant, a scanned code, a scanned quick response code, a code providedby a mobile communication device, and a code provided through a nearfield communication session with a mobile communication device.
 37. Thecomputer-implemented payment processing method of claim 33, furthercomprising receiving customer check-in data, wherein the receivedcustomer check-in data includes a gratuity data, and wherein the paymentrequest from the point of sale terminal includes a gratuity based atleast in part on the gratuity data.
 38. The point of sale terminal ofclaim 21, wherein the content to be displayed in the third party paymentprovider display area is one of a window, a widget, a pop-up, or a webpage.
 39. The method of claim 26, wherein the content to be displayed ina third party payment provider display area of the point of saleterminal is one of a window, a widget, a pop-up, or a web page.
 40. Thecomputer-implemented payment processing method of claim 33, wherein thedata for presenting a new payment modality in a third party paymentprovider display area of the point of sale terminal is one of a window,a widget, a pop-up, or a web page.